Comparison of the New GCSE Geography Syllabus for First Teaching from 2016.

1. Comparison of New Geography GCSE Specs (First Teaching September 2016 / Examinations 2018)
AQA Edexcel A Edexcel B Eduqas (WJEC) A Eduquas (WJEC) B OCR A OCR B
Paper 1: Living with the
Physical Environment (1
hour 30 minutes / 35%)
Section A: Challenge of
Natural Hazards
 Tectonic Hazards
 Weather and
Climate
Section B: Physical
Landscapes in the UK -2
of 3 from:
 Coast
 Rivers
 Glacial
Section C: Living World
 Ecosystems and
Tropical Rainforest
 Hot Deserts OR Cold
Environments
Paper 2: Challenges in
the Human Environment
(1 hour 30 minutes /
35%)
 Urban Issues and
Challenges
 ChangingEconomic
World
 Resource
Management (with
focus on Food or
Water or Energy)
Paper 3: Geographical
Application (1 hour /
30%)
 IssueEvaluation
(from pre-release)
 Fieldwork (human
and physical including
interaction)
Paper 1: Physical
Environment (1 hour
30 min / 37.5%)
Section A: The
Changing landscapes
of the UK (2 of 3 from) :
 Coasts
 Rivers
 Glaciers
Section B: Weather
Hazards and Climate
Change
Section C: Ecosystems,
biodiversity and
management.
Paper 2: Human
Environment (1 hour
30 min / 37.5%)
 Changing Cities
 Global
Development
 Resource
Management
(With either energy or
water resource
management).
Paper 3: Geographical
Investigation
Fieldwork and UK
Challenges [1 hour 15
min / 25%)
 Rivers or Coasts
Fieldwork
 Central/Inner
Urban or Rural
Settlement
Fieldwork
 UK Challenges
Questions
Paper 1: Global
Geographical Issues (1
hour 30 minutes /
37.5%)
Topic 1: Hazardous Earth
 Climatic Hazards
 Tectonic Hazards
Topic 2: Development
Dynamics
Topic 3: Challenges of an
urbanisingworld.
Paper 2: UK
Geographical Issues (1
hour 30 minutes 37.5%)
 Physical Landscape
of the UK
 Coastal Change
 River Processes and
Pressures
 UK’s Evolving
Human Landscape
 Fieldwork
Questions(1
Coast/Rivers and 1
urban)
Paper 3: People and
Environment Issues –
Making Decisions (1
hour / 25%)
 People and the
Biosphere
 Forests under threat
 Consuming energy
resources
 Making
Geographical
Decisions
Paper 1: Changing
Physical and Human
Landscapes (1 hour 30
minutes / 35%)
 Landscapes and
Physical Processes
(rivers / coasts)
 Rural-Urban Links
 Tourismor
Hazardous
Landscapes
Paper 2: Environment
and Development
Issues (1 hour 30
minutes / 35%)
 Weather, Climate
and Ecosystems.
 Economic
Development
Issues
 Social
Development
Issues or
Environmental
Changes
Paper 3: Applied
Fieldwork Enquiry
 Approaches to
Fieldwork
Methods
 Fieldwork Enquiry
 Application to UK
contexts
WJEC will select
fieldwork method and
WJEC will select
concept approach –
two contrasting
investigations.
Paper 1: Investigating
Geographical Issues
 ChangingPlaces –
Changing
Economies
 Changing
Environments
(coast,rivers,
weather and
climate)
 Environmental
Challenges
Paper 2: Problem
Solving Geography
A problem solving
paper in three parts
assessingthecontent
from across the three
themes described in
paper 1.
Paper 3: Applied
Fieldwork Enquiry
 Approaches to
Fieldwork Methods
 Fieldwork Enquiry
 Application to UK
contexts
WJEC will select
fieldwork method and
WJEC will select
concept approach – two
contrasting
investigations.
Paper 1: Living the UK
Today (1 hour 15
minutes / 30%)
 Landscapes of the
UK
 People of UK
 UK Environmental
Challenges
Paper 2: The World
Around US (1 hour 15
minutes / 30%)
 Ecosystems of the
Planet
 People of the
Planet
(development)
 Environmental
threats to the
planet.
Paper 3: Geographical
Skills (1 hour 30
minutes / 40%)
 Geographical
Skills
 Fieldwork
Assessment
(should carry
out fieldwork
in two
different
environments /
human and
physical)
Paper 1: Our Natural
World (1 hour 15
minutes / 35%)
 Global Hazards
 Changing Climate
 Distinctive
Landscapes
 Sustaining
Ecosystems
 Fieldwork
 Geographical Skills
Paper 2: People and
Society (1 hour 15
minutes / 35%)
 Urban Futures
 Dynamic
Development
 UK in the 21st
Century
 Resource Resilience
 Fieldwork
 Geographical Skills
Geographical
Exploration (1 hour 30
minutes / 30%)
 Geographical Skills
 Decision Making
Exercise
Fieldwork must be one
human / one physical in
contrastinglocations.
Basedon the Draft Specificationsavailable 14/04/2015